Making Intercity Bus Booking Easier
Bicol Isarog Transport System is a Philippine bus operator with long‑haul routes connecting Metro Manila with the Bicol provinces and Eastern Visayas. Its official booking site lets travellers reserve seats 24/7, receive instant e‑ticket confirmation and manage their trips online. I redesigned the company’s ageing website to create a clearer and more flexible booking experience.
As the lead UX/UI designer, I worked end‑to‑end, from mapping current user journeys to crafting a polished UI, so passengers could search routes, select seats and manage add‑ons (like extra baggage or pet travel) without confusion.
The Challenge
Riders using the old website frequently found themselves lost in the booking flow. Search fields were cluttered; seat selection was unclear; and options like additional baggage or pet travel weren’t surfaced until late in the process. Passengers could book online, but the experience was disjointed, causing travellers to phone booking offices or wait in terminals, defeating the promise of convenience.
Moreover, the site’s information hierarchy didn’t communicate essential policies (such as pet requirements or baggage allowances), leading to surprises at departure.
The Solution
I began by studying the online booking journeys of Bicol Isarog and competing bus platforms. I then restructured the flow into clear stages—search, selection, extras and payment. The new search interface surfaces the most popular routes and provides contextual hints, so users can enter origin, destination and dates easily. In the booking step, an interactive seat map allows travellers to pick exact seats, mirroring the physical bus layout.
Additional options, like purchasing extra baggage allowance or adding a pet, are now built into the flow, with clear guidelines on weight limits and pet requirements. Throughout the site, concise copy explains policies and highlights conveniences, such as the ability to book round‑trip or one‑way tickets at any time.
